Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Recent Cabinet Decision to Boost Rural Agriculture Enables Farmers to Harness Economy and Attract FDI in Agriculture Opines Experts
Kolkata, 14 June, 2020
The agriculture sector will get an encouragement towards infrastructural development and its tertiary sectors in the value chain of agriculture and food processing sector, said experts today, hailing the recent decision of the Union Cabinet which approved the amendment to the Essential Commodities Act as well as brought an ordinance to promote barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade in agriculture sector, to usher in the path of creating ‘One India, One Agriculture Market’. In a webinar titled the same, organised by Press Information Bureau, today, several scientists, educationists and journalists were of opinion that this new initiative of the Union Government will open a new window of opportunity for the agricultural marketing sector of the country, thus bringing a positive change in the rural economy. This far reaching and historic decision would go a long way towards helping millions of Indian farmers in every State while transforming the agriculture sector to a great extent, they felt.
Dr. N C Nayak, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kharagpur said, the agriculture sector would get a boost with the Cabinet decision for rejuvenation of agriculture and food processing sector of the country and bring a change in the agricultural economy by encouraging private as well as foreign direct investment in the farming sector. He also hoped that such a positive initiative of the Union Government will also help encourage investment in cold storages and usher in modernisation in food supply chain.
Dr Kishore Goswami, another expert from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT, Kharagpur spoke on the merits of the decision with optimism for growth which is evident in the farming sector with market linkages in the value chain with the stakeholders. He is of the opinion that the decision taken by the Cabinet is in line with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and will likely initiate private-public partnership among the stakeholders also.
Dr Dipankar Gorai  and Dr Subrata Sarkar , both experts from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Burdwan opined that the decision would play a pivotal role in motivating farmers to produce and supply farm produces with better linkages among farmers, processors, warehouse and exporters among others. They even spoke about the price stability and better productivity which are integral parts of the positive sides of the Cabinet decision.
Shri Taranjit Singh, Managing Director, JIS Group stated that the decision is a positive initiative from the perspective of industry, as it will empower the farmers for engaging processors, wholesalers, aggregators, large retailers, exporters and the like on a level playing field, while building capacity as well as fostering a resilient supply chain for the farm products to the global markets, thereby encouraging entrepreneurship in the agriculture and food processing sector.
Shri Rabindranath Mishra, DG , Union Ministry Information and Broadcasting deliberated on the positive initiatives taken by the Union Government to exemplify the commitment of the Government in championing the cause of the hardworking farmers of the country.
To a question asked by Shri Ankur Bhattacharya, veteran journalist, the former Special correspondent of UNI and the Consultant Editor, Hindustan Samachar , on the role of middlemen and the fate of the perishable goods, one of the experts, answered that with the ordinance perishable goods like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes would be removed from the list of essential commodities. This will also remove fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference in their business operations, he opined. The other two journalists present in the seminar included Shri Debashis Dasgupta, former Chief Reporter, Bartaman and former Assistant Editor, Ei Samay daily and Shri Ritwik Mukherjee Senior Assistant Editor, Deccan Chronicle were also present.
The entire webinar was anchored by Shri Samrat Bandyopadhyay, Deputy Director , PIB, Kolkata. Ms Jane Namchu, ADG , PIB, Kolkata as well as Smt. Srijata Saha Sahoo, Media and Communication Officer, PIB, Kolkata were also present in the webinar.
SB/SSS
(Visitor Counter : 163